Joe Tames The Hills

The Flat Caps 10k saw Halifax Harriers Joe Crossfield triumph on this hilly course.  Some runners described the route like a fell race on the roads.  The route was certainly not one for PB’s.  Joe Crossfield finished in a respectable time of 39:03 and first runner back.

Halifax Harriers had 11 runners at the race in total.  Simon Lea and Tim Pegg both finished in 48:31, some way below their normal times for a 10k.

The first lady back for Halifax Harriers was Sally Shacklock in 57:23, just edging out Rachel McCauley 57:48.

Other runners for the club were Will Carver 50:10, Nigel Taylor 53:27, Martin Ellis 57:02, Dennis O’Keefe 59:27, David Parrington 1:02:05, Susan Pegg 1:16:18.

Great Times At Manchester Marathon

Halifax Harriers runners made a great start to the Spring marathon season with five PB’s recorded at the Manchester Marathon.  This marathon continues to grow in size each year due to its flat and fast course.  First back for Halifax Harriers was Andrew Wiggins in 3:03:46.  The next five runners all set PB’s- James O’Rourke 3:06:39, David Ingle 3:23:40, Tom Paget 3:28:21, Rachael Beaumont 3:29:25 and Deborah Kirkbride 4:13:14.

At the Wuthering Heights Wander Marathon Halifax Harriers Will Carver came an excellent third in 3:52:55.  Sarah Sladdin finished in 5:07:19.  Steve Sladdin took on the shorter 20 mile race finishing first in 2:41:52.

The Joe Salt Memorial Cowm Reservoir 5k had seven Halifax Harriers competing.  Will Smith finished second in 16:49, just in front of fast improving Harry Johnson 16:51, whilst his brother James Johnson set a PB of 18:03.  Other runners for the club were Charlie Spencer 17:27, Liam Spencer 19:02, Mark Knowles 20:21 and Laura Knowles 20:30.

The Overgate 10k as usual had good support from local clubs.  Halifax Harriers Johanna Sutcliffe was an excellent first lady back in 40:19 whilst Ben Crowther ran 35:25 for second place in the mens race.  Other runners for the club were Will Stewart 42:03, Mark Crabtree 43:42, Robert Hick 46:24, Marc Rocheteau 47:02, Ian Giles 50:27, Rachel McCauley 55:14, Jane Stewart 58:15.

Two members of the club ran in the Overgate 5k.  Nichola Hinchliffe ran 30:02 and junior Katie Brook 30:32.

Northern Road Relays

March 24th at Birkenhead Pk Liverpool saw the staging of this years Northern 12 Stage Road relays  in conjunction the Women's 6 stage relays were held. The day was breezy but sunny and fierce competition awaited.

The ladies squad produced an amazing effort on the day  and  finished a brilliant 18th place out of 60 teams a truly fantastic team performance. The race was won by Rotherham Harriers followed by National champions Leeds and 3rd was Leigh Harriers.

Sarah Cumber kicked off proceedings running 8k in 29.15 and coming home in 15th place alongside some well known international athletes past and present. the great start was maintained by Katrina Oddy on a 4k leg running 16.09 in 18th place. Junior athlete Laura Knowles ran 16.38 to finish in 20th place which was her first run in the  Senior ranks and Laura was followed by Jo Sutcliffe who pulled off an amazing leg to bring the team home in 15th place running 8k in 29.24. Hazel Berrett continued the ladies momentum holding onto 15th place running 17.49 and the team completed the race in 18th place. Because of racing commitments the ladies are unable to compete in the National Champs held at Sutton Park in Sutton Coalfield held soon.

The mens race consisted of 4 stages of 8k and 8 stages of 4k. We finished a very creditable 31st place out of 70 teams which included the Elite teams of the North. The race was convincingly won by Leeds City who held at the end a 6 minute lead over Sheffield and Salford Harriers. Our aim was to finish inside the top 25 teams and gain automatic selection for the National Road Relay Champs in Birmingham in early April. 

James Habergam set the ball rolling with 12th place on leg 1  running 24.02 for 8k, an excellent start. The other 8k legs were run by Ben Crowther 25.54 Peter Clegg 26.51 and Mikie Gaughan. 28.32 and throughout the race we maintained positions in the mid 20s early on and finishing 31st by the end.

The shorter legs of 4k were run by Ian Whitehouse 13.58 Andy Wiggins 15.05 Ryan Barker 14.31 Niall Smith 13.50 Simon Johnson 13.30 Mark Gaughan 16.36 Liam Spencer 14.43 and Will Smith 13.11.

 A fantastic day out was enjoyed and valued experience was gained by our relay debutants.

Well done and thank you.